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Ridgetop Teacher Remembered as Kind, Thoughtful, Loving
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Ridgetop Junior High students, from left, William Fine, Daniel Bay and Gary Fine bow their heads during a candlelight vigil for teacher Miriam Snyder. With them are Fines' mom, Anne Mayfield, left, and Ridgetop teacher Cherrie Chamberlin. Snyder died in a road accident on Saturday. (Marietta Nelson
Central Kitsap High School student Kylie Koether, right, lights her candle from the flame of Daniel Bay, a Ridgetop Junior High student who helped organize a vigil Monday night for teacher Miriam Snyder. Snyder died in a motorcycle accident Saturday. (Marietta Nelson
SILVERDALE For Miriam Snyder's students, it was one of those precious teachable moments. But the teacher was absent for this final lesson.
Snyder, a humanities teacher and reading coach at Ridgetop Junior High in Silverdale, died Saturday in a road accident. Her students organized a candlelight vigil Monday and spoke spontaneously and eloquently of how she guided them through school, and read from essays they said they could write because of her lessons.
"She would put her students before anything. She would spend so much time and would not get frustrated," seventh-grader Greg Fine said. "She ended up changing everyone in her class."
Fine, his brother William, and eighth-grader Daniel Bay organized the vigil, which was held at sunset on the doorstep of Ridgetop. As the sun dropped behind the Olympic Mountains in a wash of pink, more than 125 people gathered to celebrate Snyder. Candles dripped wax and Kleenex was passed through the crowd as kids, parents and teachers listened to country singer Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" and spoke of Snyder in loving tones.
"She was one of a kind, probably about the most understanding person I know," said Bay, who noted that Snyder did not dwell on negatives or carry grudges. "She traveled light."
Central Kitsap High School teacher Susan Johnson said Snyder accepted each student with an open heart. "She was a fabulous colleague. You met her once and you just clicked with her," she said.
Julie Snyder, also a CK teacher and Miriam's sister-in-law, said "working with those kids just brought her to life." Before Ridgetop, Miriam Snyder taught at Kitsap Mental Health's Madrona School. She had a heart for kids who struggled, Julie Snyder said.
Miriam Snyder was born 44 years ago in California and lived in Spain for four years as a child before coming to Kitsap County in the late 1970s. Her father had serious health problems and died when she was young. Snyder did not graduate from high school but went back and got her adult high school diploma at Olympic College. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Seattle Pacific University and a master's in education from the University of Washington. She and her husband, Michael, would have marked 25 years of marriage at the end of this month.
"I am not exaggerating when I say that you wouldn't find a more loving and caring person," Michael Snyder said. The two became parents to Derek, who is now 24 and on his way to study music production at the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts.
For several years after Derek was born, the Snyders struggled with infertility. Then a co-worker introduced Miriam to Sheri Roberts, an 18-year-old single mother. Roberts was pregnant again and worried about caring for another child. Three months after giving birth, Roberts gave the little girl to the Snyders in an adoption. They called her Marlee.
Roberts said through the adoption and in the ensuing years, Miriam treated her as a friend and a part of Marlee's life. Early on, Miriam told Marlee, who is now 18, she was adopted, explaining the process when the family got a new cat. Miriam took her daughter to meet a mother cat who had just given birth, explaining that they would help the mother cat and take a kitten home because she could not care for them all herself.
"It was just the neatest thing," said Roberts. "I just never met anybody who was so thoughtful."
And then seven years ago, Tyler came to live with the Snyders as a foster child. The Snyders had not planned for more children, but Tyler, who is now 17, was special. He was also adopted by the loving couple. "She could see the potential in him," said Michael, who admired his wife's supportive nature.
A few months ago, Michael helped Miriam plant tulips in their backyard. When he looked out the window a few weeks ago, he noticed the blooms had been clipped. He discovered at the candlelight vigil Monday that his wife had bundled the flowers into posies and placed them on her co-workers' desks in celebration of May Day.
As a family, the Snyders travel a lot, visiting Mexico, Spain, Europe, Jamaica and all over the U.S.; it taught them about other cultures, Derek Snyder wrote in an e-mail about his mom.
"Whether traveling or staying the night at grandma's house, she always taught us to leave our surroundings in better shape than you found them," he wrote. "How fitting that, in leaving us, she left everything at least a thousand times better than it was before." Suggest removal)
My sympathies to the Snyder family...Miriam's smile could light up a room. She cared so much for others. I worked with her at Kitsap Mental Health and will always remember her as someone who loved people. I can still hear her laughter.
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I did not know her, but I respect anyone who met the world head on and made it a better place - she sounds like that kind of person. My prayers go to the family and friends.
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What a wonderful article. I did not know Miriam personally, but always heard good things about her teaching, and about her as a person. My prayers to the family, friends, and students of Ridgetop.
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wow , I read the article about the accident and didn't realize she was a such a special person to many, it's a sad loss. I hope her extended family finds strength in the memory of her life that was cut short.
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Mrs Snyder-
It was my 7th grade year at ridgetop JH, I was struggling immensely, my grades were going down the drain, and I was always on the brink of causing some kind of trouble.
One day while I was in the office awaiting to be questioned for a previous offense, You came into the office and I could see the disappointment in your eyes seeing me in this situation once again. You looked at me dead in the eyes and said
"Alex I have hope that one day you will be destined for success and your road starts now"
It was till i got into highschool that i really took that quote seriously, and i will never forget the wonderful woman that it came from. I have made many changes in my behavior due to staff members and you alike because its the people like you that have such an inspiration on people like me.
I am still in highschool, and I am still improving each day, and learning new things about myself, Im also learning not to wear such profane shirts that I used to wear in class.
You were such a good teacher, mother, and inspiration to all. I am never going to forget that things that I learned from you.
You are in a better place and you will never be forgotton
-Alex Dolby
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to the snyder family,
i am sorry to hear aobut this..she was such an inspiration to everyone out there. i went to ridgetop, but did not have her but i heard alot about how well of a teacher she was. she will be miss so much through out the community...
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